What I hate about this character is not that it's basically the WoW warlock class -- which you don't really want in a Diablo kinda game, imo -- but the whole thing it represents.

What gave them the idea that a ricebelly with parkinson is anywhere near as cool as a charismatic although bloodchilling necromancer? This WD look is just horrible and not in the least heroic. Bah.

Seriously though, I think they dropped the looks ball on every class. The Demon Hunter looks like Justin Bieber gone gothic, the Monk looks like Osama Bin Laden and... neh the mage and barbarian are alright, I guess.

I notice that in all new games they try to be creative with the characters, completely ditching the favorite stereotypes people have grown to love for a reason. Where's the literal knight/paladin in shining armor, for example?

Every character in D3 is "Meh.", except for the WD. That one is just "Ugh! Get out of my face!".

Gameplay wise I guess most gamers will have a character that suits their taste, luckily.

Well, I can see where you would get the Dhalsim feel, from his nose/earrings and bald head, skin tone, etc.

However Dhalsim's physique, if you go back and look at that game, is RIPPED. The Witch Doctor on the other hand is in starvation mode, hence the distended belly and twitching. Not really as heroic as I personally would have liked, but he's quickly enveloped in armor and it's not as distracting.

I'll still be rocking a Witch Doctor, on release day, assuming the servers don't melt into slag.

As for MF, I hadn't heard of this but I think it's a sensible change. Especially now with individual loot. What, player A should just be able to deck himself out in full MF gear, contribute far less to the overall efficiency of the group, and then sit back and profit as the personalized loot appears? It's also nice for removing the whole deal with one player in MF gear performing killing blows. Though personally, as far as MF goes, I wish they'd dropped it all together.

That img is so misleading. Runes really don't make that much of a difference. D2 had 30 skills, D3 has 28.

I agree with you about MF, the game should just drop items regardless of a player having to make sure he has some ungodly amout of MF% on each item to find the best loot.

It's a Diablo game, the series has always been about that next shiny purple rare since the story line has generally been non existant for the most part and laughably bad.

avianflu wrote on Apr 25, 2012, 09:48:Diablo 3 was built for massive multiplayer, so be ready for that.

I healthily doubt the single player will be worth the price of the game. Wont know until release.

Yep. Some people almost seem to be expecting a story-driven CRPG. That's certainly never been the case with the previous games, where most of the story is actually delivered through the manuals. And it won't be the case here. Some speech-bubbles here and there and no doubt a handful of amazing cut-scenes courtesy of Blizzard's cinematics department, but that's about it.

In any case, I found both D1 and D2 to be passable as single-player games (in particular D1, but I was young and impressionable then...), but not much more than that. MP is where this series really shines.

As for MF, I hadn't heard of this but I think it's a sensible change. Especially now with individual loot. What, player A should just be able to deck himself out in full MF gear, contribute far less to the overall efficiency of the group, and then sit back and profit as the personalized loot appears? It's also nice for removing the whole deal with one player in MF gear performing killing blows. Though personally, as far as MF goes, I wish they'd dropped it all together.

eunichron wrote on Apr 24, 2012, 14:35:Not sure if stress testers had access to the beta forums or not, but there was a post not too long ago that said Nightmare and Hell difficulty will ramp up obscenely, and that crowd control will be essential to defeating them.

The developers didn't think Diablo 2 would become a farming simulator with players able to solo-8 hell mode continually spamming their abilities, but that's what the game turned into and probably what made it so popular. If they really do change it I doubt they'll make as many people happy, though it would be the ultimate irony if Blizzard ruined a promising game by trying to make it more like WoW.

But that is exactly what they have done, dumbed the game down to WoW levels trying to attract more casuals while flipping off their base who enjoyed finding new builds that would be viable and fun.

There are 3 other difficulties aside from Normal, Nightmare, Hell, and Inferno, with Magic Find and difficulty level being the largest contributors to what epic level of loot you find.

For a game that is essentially all about looking for loot I have a feeling those playing on said higher difficulty levels will enjoy lots of frustration, especially with the change that the more people you're playing with in a given game, it takes everyone's MF and rounds it out rather than it being based off of indivuals particular percentage. Another bone headed design decision on a backload of terrible design decisions that plague this game.

When you add in the 2004 graphic's engine, the real money AH, and the always on DRM, it's amazing to me it took them 12 years to make this considering work originally started on Diablo 3 in 2000.

eunichron wrote on Apr 24, 2012, 14:35:Not sure if stress testers had access to the beta forums or not, but there was a post not too long ago that said Nightmare and Hell difficulty will ramp up obscenely, and that crowd control will be essential to defeating them.

The developers didn't think Diablo 2 would become a farming simulator with players able to solo-8 hell mode continually spamming their abilities, but that's what the game turned into and probably what made it so popular. If they really do change it I doubt they'll make as many people happy, though it would be the ultimate irony if Blizzard ruined a promising game by trying to make it more like WoW.

MoreLuckThanSkill wrote on Apr 24, 2012, 15:56:Only dislike I have with the Witch Doctor is his lack of a more heroic physique. The Male WD has the distended belly of a starving man, along with the trembling shakes of an addict. In comparison, the 80 year old Barbarian has biceps that weigh more than the other characters combined... Blizzard really could have gone with a wide receiver type physique, or even a marathon runner physique if they wanted to stay ultra skinny and a more confident stance, but oh well.

Dhalsim-a-like perhaps?

I immediately thought of street fighter whenever I saw the Witch Doctor. I kept expecting his arms or legs to stretch out for physical attacks 8)

MoreLuckThanSkill wrote on Apr 24, 2012, 15:56:Only dislike I have with the Witch Doctor is his lack of a more heroic physique. The Male WD has the distended belly of a starving man, along with the trembling shakes of an addict. In comparison, the 80 year old Barbarian has biceps that weigh more than the other characters combined... Blizzard really could have gone with a wide receiver type physique, or even a marathon runner physique if they wanted to stay ultra skinny and a more confident stance, but oh well.

Not sure if stress testers had access to the beta forums or not, but there was a post not too long ago that said Nightmare and Hell difficulty will ramp up obscenely, and that crowd control will be essential to defeating them.

Easier said than done. Crowd control comes at the expense of damage dealt, and damage not being dealt is time being wasted. Diablo is not an MMO and they'll be infuriating a lot of people if they turn boss runs into raid-like affairs that are impossible to solo and that take hours to complete.

Diablo has been/should always be about killing gobs of monsters in quick fashion.

The Witch Doctor owns. I will probably give in, and play Barbarian first (for a planned coop group), but WD will be a close second, probably solo. Giant Toad > Diablo 3.

Only dislike I have with the Witch Doctor is his lack of a more heroic physique. The Male WD has the distended belly of a starving man, along with the trembling shakes of an addict. In comparison, the 80 year old Barbarian has biceps that weigh more than the other characters combined... Blizzard really could have gone with a wide receiver type physique, or even a marathon runner physique if they wanted to stay ultra skinny and a more confident stance, but oh well.

Not sure if stress testers had access to the beta forums or not, but there was a post not too long ago that said Nightmare and Hell difficulty will ramp up obscenely, and that crowd control will be essential to defeating them.

Easier said than done. Crowd control comes at the expense of damage dealt, and damage not being dealt is time being wasted. Diablo is not an MMO and they'll be infuriating a lot of people if they turn boss runs into raid-like affairs that are impossible to solo and that take hours to complete.

Diablo has been/should always be about killing gobs of monsters in quick fashion.

Not sure if stress testers had access to the beta forums or not, but there was a post not too long ago that said Nightmare and Hell difficulty will ramp up obscenely, and that crowd control will be essential to defeating them.

Easier said than done. Crowd control comes at the expense of damage dealt, and damage not being dealt is time being wasted. Diablo is not an MMO and they'll be infuriating a lot of people if they turn boss runs into raid-like affairs that are impossible to solo and that take hours to complete.

Diablo has been/should always be about killing gobs of monsters in quick fashion.